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Nursery issued fine after toddler was 'accidentally' locked inside hot shed

Home> Life> Parenting

Published 16:50 25 Jan 2024 GMT

Nursery issued fine after toddler was 'accidentally' locked inside hot shed

The toddler was stuck in the hot shed for 15 minutes

Rhianna Benson

Rhianna Benson

The general idea of a nursery is to allow parents to return to work, safe in the knowledge their beloved tot is being cared for and made more confident ahead of their subsequent move to primary school.

This being the case, you can imagine one Australian mother's horror after learning that workers at a daycare facility in Perth 'inadvertently' locked her two-year-old son in a hot, metal shed on a 30-degree day.

As a result, Mercy Community Services Limited’s centre in Heathridge landed itself a hefty fine over the incident, which took place on March 7 last year.

The incident in question - which saw the toddler wander inside the shed in the hope of finding some outdoor play equipment before being accidentally locked inside by a staff educator - was heard in a tribunal.

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During the proceedings, it was heard that the child's disappearance was only noted when the boy’s older brother and sister were seen outside the shed.

It was then that a member of staff looked inside to discover the 'visibly hot' child waiting to be released.

The nursery was fined.
Google Maps

While tribunal attendees heard that the boy was only trapped in the shed for 15 minutes, the temperature that day meant he'd likely have been taken ill if he was stuck inside for any longer.

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Phil Payne - Department of Communities executive director for regulation and quality - hopes that this potentially-fatal incident emphasises the need for nursery and day-care workers to give attentive supervision to kids at all times.

"In this incident the child was latched inside a metal shed on a 30-degree day which could have easily resulted in a different outcome," he declared during the case.

"It’s the responsibility of the service providers to ensure their staff follow the supervision procedures and policies in place to prevent incidents like this from occurring."

Workers at MercyCare went on to confess they'd failed to provide the proper care that the child needed, before describing the incident as 'unique'.

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The daycare unit claimed that a member of staff had initially followed proper protocols by searching the shed before locking it.

The toddler was accidentally locked inside a metal shed.
Getty/Rawf8

A second member of staff then reopened the shed to retrieve a toy, waiting a 'second or two' - during which the child entered the shed - to re-lock it.

MercyCare said, and the Department of Communities accepted, the time span for the child to enter must have 'only been a second or two'.

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Despite this, the nursery was ordered to pay a penalty of $15,000, as well as an extra $2,000 to cover legal fees.

Following the incident, MercyCare engaged an independent audit of its policies and implemented the recommended changes.

Featured Image Credit: Tirc83/Getty Images/Google Maps

Topics: Health, Parenting

Rhianna Benson
Rhianna Benson

Rhianna is an Entertainment Journalist at LADbible Group, working across LADbible, UNILAD and Tyla. She has a Masters in News Journalism from the University of Salford and a Masters in Ancient History from the University of Edinburgh. She previously worked as a Celebrity Reporter for OK! and New Magazines, and as a TV Writer for Reach PLC.

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@rhiannaBjourno

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